Pros:

Excellent Lows

     Excellent Mids

Excellent Highs

Excellent Imaging and Soundstage

Something Special About Diana

Mediocre:

OK fit and comfort

     Proprietary Cable

BULL:

Nothing of Note

BLUF:

The Abyss Diana MR manages to melt together a luxurious low-end, full-bodied mids, and crisp highs into one stunning package. It is light, small, and mostly comfortable, let down only by how its earpads sit against the head, a poorly padded headband, and a $600 proprietary cable that’s not easily replaceable if you choose to do so.

Up for review today is the newest version of the Abyss Diana – the MR version. The Diana TC still sits at the top of the Diana hierarchy, but the new MR is a cheaper reimagining of the Diana tuning. A lot of people seem to like the MR tuning more than the TC tuning, which happens to be $1,500 more expensive than the $3,000 Diana MR. Now, everyone will have their own opinion on the topic, and I have never heard the TC, so I cannot comment on the sound differences, but several other reviewers have been lucky enough to compare the two, so I will recommend looking up their reviews if you’re considering both headphones and want to know the differences. The same goes for the v2 version of the Diana. All I can do is compare the MR to the other headphones I’ve owned, and surprisingly, the Diana MR is sitting in my current #1 slot – at least for now. So, what makes these headphones special?

Comfort/Build (Can you wear it for long periods, or will it fall apart after 1 use?): The build quality on these is excellent with a durable feeling coating and some decently built earpads. The earpads are a weird shape – there’s no other way to put that. Instead of a typical donut shape, the MR pads are closer to a tapered horn shape, which is a great concept, but in execution prevents the earpads from sitting on your head comfortably initially. I say initially because after a few minutes, the pads settle in comfortably, but it may require a little messing with to get right. The ear pads are also magnetic, which is super convenient for swapping if you want to try the bass-ported pads that are sold separately. The headband can cause hot spots over long periods of time since it’s not very padded on the bottom, but I absolutely love the flexibility of the headband – some sort of flexible spring steel wrapped in leather. The light weight of the headphones is excellent at 390g. I’ve worn these for hours at a time with only minor adjustments to keep them comfortable. Oh, and it comes with a nice carrying case and a cool box. Definitely a 4 (Above Average,) but not quite a 5 (Among the Best.)

A quick note on the cable: the cable that runs from the XLR 4.4mm jack to the splitter is pretty nice and feels like a Corpse Cable in quality and stiffness. Post-splitter though, the cable splits into two colors, which is a cool design, but the cable sleeve itself drops in quality and feels cheaper are more tangly – somewhat ruining the overall feel of the cable. The cable itself runs around $500-$600 – ouch – and there’s a more expensive JPS Superconductor cable that runs close to $2k. Oh, and while it has 3.5mm connectors, they’re a proprietary shape to fit the ear cups, which might make it impossible to use certain aftermarket cables. Overall, these earn a score of 4 (above Average) for comfort and build quality.

I am powering these headphones off of my home theater desktop setup which consists of an EverSolo DMP-A8 Streamer/DAC that feeds into an iFi iCAN Phantom AMP through 3-pin XLR connections. This combo eliminates the need to be hooked up to my computer as a source and the Phantom can power anything from sensitive IEMs to E-stats to power-thirsty planars – allowing me to use the same setup for every review going forward. The Diana MR is not that difficult to power, with a consistent 35-50/100 volume on the Phantom using low gain.

Below are the test tracks used to test each headphone we review. The songs are in order to test sub-bass (bass you can feel) first, followed by mid-bass (bass drums and bass guitars – bass you can hear), then a spectrum of mids evaluating different instruments and vocals (where most of the music is presented), then highs (higher pitched instruments and cymbals) and lastly sibilance (sharp S sounds).

Lows (Sub-bass/bass quality and quantity): The bass on the Diana MR is some of the best I’ve ever heard on a headphone, competing only with the JMA headphones. You can REALLY feel the sub-bass on the MR, with excellent reverberation and slam, but without the bass muddying up the mids like some bassier headphones can do at times. The mid-bass is also excellent with the White Stripes vibrating your soul without feeling overwhelming or rattly, though there is a touch of Honda Civic rattle on the right side, which could just be how the song is intended to sound. “Sail” doesn’t have that issue, and it digs quite deep for its bass. Overall, the Diana MR earns a 5 (Among the Best) for bass – and that’s without the bass-port pads.

Mids (Vocals/Instrument clarity and presence): Typically, a bass-heavy headphone will be mediocre in the mids and highs. The Diana MR dodges that characterization. “Liar” not only manages to highlight the female vocals, but the overall presentation is excellent from the acoustic guitars to the vocals and the bass drums in the background. This is a headphone where the bass actually manages to add more depth to the overall song presentation, giving it a more full-sounding presentation. 3 Doors Down of course sounds great, with brilliant separation and imaging between vocals and each guitar. This is a set of headphones that reveals every detail (including a guitar on the left side I didn’t know was there until now.) The MR has some truly excellent mids and “Narrow Mouth” shows how insanely good it can make a song sound. The MR makes you feel like you’re in the room with The Early November while they’re singing. It’s an easy 5 (Among the Best) for the MR here.

Highs (Cymbals/High pitched vocals or instrument quality and presence): Cymbals are easily discernable on the Chili Peppers songs without any issues. The ability for headphones to have such expressive bass and mids while still hitting the highs is amazing. “Adventure of a Lifetime” sounds even better on the MR than the SR-007A, though a touch sharper. It’s not fatiguing though, and the detail, layering, and imaging are excellent. There are tiny details strewn throughout this song (especially on the left side) that only a good set of headphones will portray. The MR pulls that off without even trying. It even manages to avoid harsh sibilance on “The Sound of Silence” – a heck of a feat. That’s another 5 (Among the Best) for the Diana MR.

Soundstage/Imaging (How big and accurate the song sounds): It’s already been mentioned above that the soundstage and imaging are excellent. The MR portrays an expansive soundstage without sounding like an empty amphitheater like the HD800 can. The only thing that isn’t perfect here is that the soundstage can occasionally feel forward-leaning, avoiding the full 360-degree presentation that something like the SR-007A can portray. It’s a small complaint since it does such a good job everywhere else, but it’s worth mentioning. The Diana MR still earns a 5 (Among the Best) here because it remains Among the Best – although it likely deserves a 4.5 here if that were an option.

Value (Cost vs Performance): Value is always subjective to each individual. While most people would never buy a set of these for $3k, other people might find these cheap compared to a set of 1266, or Susvara, or Utopia 2022s – all of which are $5-6k new. The performance of the MR is quite good, making them almost a bargain when they can compete with flagship headphones for half the price. Again, these rank at #1 on the B&B Ranking list currently – is that worth $3k, or around $2,500 used? Only an individual can determine whether it’s worth it to them, but looking at what the MR competes with, we’d say these are currently among the best value high-end headphones out there – earning the MR a score of 5 (Among the Best) in this category.

Conclusion: There is just something weirdly magical about the Abyss Diana MR. It’s challenging to put your finger on just what makes these so special, but while your initial listen session might not impress you, you’ll find yourself getting caught by surprise while listening to these when you least expect it. It reminds me a lot of the FiR Rn6 in that it doesn’t initially blow your mind, but then it all comes together in an excellent package. Old songs you haven’t listened to in a while will suddenly pop and sound like a remastering – completely throwing you off guard. You have to give these some time, a short demo likely won’t wow you, but some extended listening will reveal the combination of pieces that make the Diana MR more than the whole.

Bytes & Bull Overall Score: 5 (Among the Best)